Suffolk Coronavirus: Face Masks For Day Laborers Spark Discord

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The question of personal protective equipment for day laborers sparked controversy in Suffolk County Tuesday.

Suffolk County Legislators Rob Trotta and Anthony Piccirillo called upon Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone to "reconsider" what they called his "directive" to have Suffolk County Police officers hand out protective face masks to day laborers who congregate while awaiting pickup. The pair said that they believed Bellone had issued the edict to Suffolk County Police Chief Stuart Cameron during a conference call with county officials Monday night.

"I almost fell off my chair when I heard of this ill-conceived plan," Trotta said.

During the call, Piccirillo said he asked if the face masks would also be distributed to seniors and other residents in need and was told "the county does not have face masks available for the public.I don't know why we are not prioritizing our most vulnerable population, our seniors, who are asking for masks, and giving them to people who are not even asking for them," he said.

On Tuesday, Bellone was asked about the legislators' claims. Bellone said the statement put out was "patently false and inaccurate" and said any claims in that regard were "a distraction from the work that we have been doing every single day on a non-partisan basis."

Suffolk County, he said, is distributing N95 masks to health care workers, police and firefighters, as well as first responders.

There is an important distinction, Bellone said, between face masks and face coverings. There are face coverings and homemade coverings donated by individuals and distributed by organizations on the East End and in other places "to help contain the spread of the virus," he said.

Suffolk has been working with local individuals and organizations, Bellone said Monday, to reduce the spread of coronavirus among farm workers, distributing face coverings and hand sanitizer, as well as information on how those individuals can protect themselves.

At his press briefing Monday, Bellone thanked Sonia Spar, co-chair of the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force, as well as Penelope Rudder, who created Our Little Free Pantry, where those in need can find food. He also thanked the North Fork Parish Outreach, North Fork Unity Action Committee, and migrant ministries for their help in helping to distribute the supplies and information.

In addition, Bellone said Tuesday, he was working with the state to receive face coverings from the federal government that will be distributed to different parts of the public, including essential employees — the county has already distributed masks to supermarket workers to fill a gap when the masks became mandatory — towns, village, and seniors. Cloths face coverings will also be distributed to front line workers so that when they leave the work at the hospital, they can use them while off duty.

Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer Rob Calarco released a statement regarding the county’s ongoing efforts to distribute supplies of personal protective equipment: “I would like to set the record straight about some misinformation that was shared earlier with regard to the county’s ongoing efforts to distribute supplies of personal protective equipment. To be clear, Suffolk County police officers are not diverting critical supplies away from our front line workers. Our police officers are protecting all of our residents by making sure everyone is following state orders to maintain social distancing and wear face coverings in public when social distancing is not possible."

He added that in communities struggling to comply with wearing face coverings, the county is showing the public what type of homemade cloth face coverings should be used and working with community groups to help distribute protective gear to all who need it.

"The county is responsible for the health and welfare of all its residents," he said. "This is how we will stop the spread of this virus and better protect our healthcare workers and first responders.”

Trotta and Piccirillo responded. “The Bellone administration's response is a typical propaganda technique. You make a denial of an allegation that wasn’t made against you; it takes away from the real allegation you’re guilty of," Trotta said.

Added Piccirillo: "Th bottom line is we need to protect our seniors. If the county has masks available to distribute, they should be given to our senior population. It’s about protecting the most vulnerable, not pandering for cheap political points."

Bellone said he would not engage in "false" charges.

"The work we are doing is seven days a week," Bellone said. "We are dealing with a crisis unlike anything we have ever seen before. We have had nearly 900 residents who have died from this virus — and the idea that there’s some local official giving out something that's so patently false because he thinks it's good politics is not something paying a lot of attention to."

Death toll rises

The number of deaths related to the new coronavirus continued to rise across Suffolk County Wednesday at the same time as the total of patients hospitalized once again saw an uptick, said Bellone.

Bellone said there continued to be a rise in the number of individuals testing positive with coronavirus; as of Tuesday, there was a total of 28,751 countywide.

Over the past 24 hours, 587 new confirmed cases were reported, down from an average of about 1,000 per day that had been the norm in past weeks, he said.

Hospitalizations, which had gone down for "five days in a row," saw an increase over the past 24 hour, up by 23 for a total of 1,434, Bellone said. He said the question was whether the county was plateauing at a lower level, or if the slight uptick was a "blip" and the numbers would continue to decrease in the coming days.

The number of occupied ICU beds, however, decreased by five, for a total of 501.

Hospital capacity countywide stands at 3,316 beds and 797 ICU beds; of that, 741 hospital beds and 147 ICU beds are currently available.

A total of 68 patients went home over the past day, he said.

But the "terrible news," Bellone said, is that the death toll rose by 29 to a total of 888 lives lost in Suffolk County.

"If there's any solace to be taken out of that number it is that the increase is smaller than we have seen in a long time," he said. "That's a hopeful sign."

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases by town is as follows:

Islip: 8,073

Brookhaven: 5,804

Babylon: 4,617

Huntington: 3,397

Smithtown: 1,523

Southampton: 478

Riverhead: 297

Southold: 277

East Hampton: 130

Shelter Island: 7

More than 2.5 million pieces of PPE delivered

The county continues to deliver personal protective equipment to hospitals, fire departments and emergency services agencies; another 100,000 pieces were delivered Monday. A total of 2.5 million have been distributed since the crisis began, he said.

Property tax relief

Bellone said officials are talking to Washington, DC about providing temporary tax relief for Suffolk homeowners and developing a workable plan that won't inflict damage on taxpayers and still allows government to function during its response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Under the federal relief bill, the CARES act, only counties with more than a 2 million population are able to access a short term borrowing program. Suffolk, the 26th largest county in the country and one of the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, only has 1.5 million people.

Bellone sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury asking that the guidance be shifted to allow counties of Suffolk's size to have access to that opportunity, which it does not currently have.

"Tens of thousands have been impacted economically by this virus," Bellone said. "We've seen the devastation that's occurred. We need to do everything we can to provide relief."

Bellone thanked Rep. Lee Zeldin for his efforts to help and said, hopefully, the county would have a response soon.

Relief for small businesses outlined in Zoom meeting

With an eye toward helping small business owners who are struggling due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming will be hosting a Zoom meeting online to outline relief measures.

The Zoom meeting will take place on April 22 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. with Bernard Ryba, director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook University.

The hour-long session will include an overview of federal relief programs available to small businesses, cultural organizations and not-for-profits to help them in coping with and recovering from the business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fleming said.

Happy Birthday, Joe Zito

Bellone attended a drive-by birthday party for Joe Zito of West Babylon, who turned 100 Tuesday.

Growing up, Bellone said he used to ride his bike to Zito's deli: "He's been a pillar of the community for my entire life. Today, with his family, as cars drove by, he was at the door waving, and it was a personal sign of hope that we are going to get through this and come out the other side, ultimately stronger and better."